Anna’s men distributing ‘vachan patras’ among voters

In a unique initiative,it has started distributing “vachan patras” among the electorate. The “vachan patra” is a list of promises that the prospective candidates are required to agree to. IAC members opine that the prospective candidates should sign the forms. A rider is that the declaration states that in case any of the seven promises is not fulfilled by the candidate after being elected,the “vachan patra” would be considered his or her resignation.

IAC members are campaigning among residents that they should demand that candidates sign the declaration. The residents are being asked to extend support to candidates in case they agree to this demand. Some of these include holding regular meetings with residents of their wards,sharing with residents the development works that were undertaken and the expenditure on them. These forms have also been sent to senior leaders of political parties as well as councillors,asking them to accept the conditions in the forms.

The team has already covered some villages and colonies in the city including Palsora,Dadumajra,Indira Colony and Vikas Nagar. In the coming days,the campaign will be intensified.

IAC’s Tricity Coordinator Rahul Bharatiya said,“The aim of distributing the vachan patras is to make candidates more accountable. We have sent these forms to all senior leaders and councillors. Till now,just one of them has responded positively and he will be submitting his nomination form along with this vachan patra. Apart from this,we will create awareness among residents about making use of Form 17(A).”

Team Anna had campaigned against the Congress candidate at Hisar. This was done essentially to drive home the point that in case the Congress-led Central government does not introduce the Jan Lokpal Bill during the Winter Session of Parliament,people will vote against the party.

Quite a few Congress leaders in prominent positions at the Centre have a Chandigarh connection. Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Water resources Pawan Kumar Bansal is the local MP. Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal as well as Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni have their roots in Chandigarh.

Senior leader in the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee Subhash Chawla said,“The Anna movement will not have any impact on the results of the civic body elections. The by-election at Hisar has exposed Team Anna. In fact,the elections proved counter-productive for them. The team is not being seen only against corruption but against a particular party.”

Former BJP MP and the party’s national legal and legislative cell in-charge Satya Pal Jain welcomed IAC’s latest move. “The campaign will have a good impact on the elections as not only local questions but also national issues like corruption will come into focus. The quality of candidates will improve. The Congress is on the defensive on the issue of corruption. It will ultimately benefit the BJP,” forecast Jain.

The seven promises

*After winning elections,I will divide my ward into zones and

hold a meeting of every zone once every three months.

*Every seventh months I will get the details of work undertaken by me published in a newspaper.

*I will get a yearly development report published in newspapers.

*After completion of a year,I will get a referendum done and if I have the support of 51 per cent of the people,then I will continue; otherwise I will resign.

*If I do not get a referendum done after completion of a year,this “vachan patra” may be considered my resignation.

*I will make details of my property public before filing nomination papers; after getting elected I will make details of my property public every year.

*At the end of every year of my term,all details given in the previous year would continue to remain valid.